Rita Bornstein, former Rollins president known for fundraising chops, dies at 88
Former Rollins College President Rita Bornstein, known for her fundraising prowess and efforts to raise the Winter Park school’s national standing, died on Tuesday. She was 88.
Bornstein, who became the college’s 13th president in 1990 and served in that role until 2004, oversaw Rollins’ most ambitious fundraising effort to that date, securing $160.2 million that supported academic programs, scholarships, faculty, facilities, and the first endowment of a college presidency in the nation.
A native of New York City who had previously served as a vice president at the University of Miami, Bornstein came to Rollins “with a complicated series of life and career experiences,” she wrote in 2021 in a piece for Winter Park Magazine.
“As a nontraditional president — Jewish, a woman and a fundraiser — I faced special challenges in gaining respect and legitimacy from the faculty, the trustees and the community,” Bornstein wrote. “Without such acceptance, my efforts would be fruitless.”
She was Rollins’ first woman president. But Bornstein gained the respect of the campus and the community and prospered, her friends and former colleagues say.
Charlotte Hall, a former editor of the Orlando Sentinel, said she met Bornstein shortly after she left Rollins College through a women’s lunch group. She described Bornstein as a friend, adviser and honest critic.
“She was an irresistible force for good in the community — a brilliant leader, a tireless mentor, trusted, respected, indefatigable and much loved,” Hall said. “She brought people together and you trusted Rita.”
Current Rollins President Grant Cornwell praised Bornstein’s work at the college on Wednesday, noting under her leadership, the school had climbed in the U.S. News & World Report rankings and the average SAT scores of entering students had improved by more than 65 points.
And Cornwell said Bornstein had served as a mentor to him and his wife, Peg, long after Bornstein resigned from the college.
“Speaking personally, Rita welcomed Peg and me to Rollins with great warmth and became a trusted friend and adviser,” Cornwell said. “She could not have been more supportive of us throughout our time here. We enjoyed her wit, intelligence, and insight, and will miss her dearly.”
Before her tenure at Rollins, Bornstein earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Florida Atlantic University and then went on to receive her Ph.D. in educational leadership from the University of Miami. She completed her education, which entailed 15 years of coursework, while raising her children, Rachel and Mark.
Bornstein was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease while she was still at the helm of Rollins but didn’t publicly disclose her diagnosis until years later. She wrote for Winter Park Magazine that she didn’t want people to feel sorry for her. Her husband, Harland Bloland, died just four months after she left Rollins.
When Bornstein’s tenure at the college ended in 2004, she stressed to the campus community that she did not intend to retire. Instead, she continued working with nonprofit groups, serving on the boards of the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, the Winter Park Health Foundation and the Parkinson Association for Central Florida.
“Retirement has turned out to be anything but quiet or uneventful,” she wrote for Winter Park Magazine.
She also assembled more than a dozen community leaders for regular “salon” gatherings to discuss current issues. That group included former Orange County Mayor Linda Chapin, Judge Emerson Thompson, state Sen. Geraldine Thompson and GrayRobinson founder Charlie Gray.
“That is representative of the kind of people Rita could draw together,” Chapin said.
Chapin said she first met Bornstein when she became president of Rollins in 1990 and Chapin had recently been elected as mayor of Orange County. When they first met, Chapin said, Bornstein was adamant that college presidents should not take political stances. Chapin sometimes tried to persuade her otherwise.
Chapin said her relationship with Bornstein changed after she left Rollins in 2004, and the two became very close, sharing trips, experiences and mutual friends.
“Rita was capable of being the ultimate professional and she was also capable of being the most fun friend we had,” Chapin said.
Emerson Thompson, who grew close to Bornstein through the regular discussion groups that she organized, said Bornstein’s excellent communication skills helped her connect with people and share her values with them.
“She met people where they were and tried to inform them of where she thought they should be or improve where they were,” Thompson said.
